Abstract

Purpose: Charitable and humanitarian supply chains have long suffered from inadequate funding and resource management, misappropriation, corruption, and distribution imbalances, severely undermining organizational credibility, donor motivation, and impediments to achieving philanthropic goals. This study examines how blockchain technology enhances supply chain transparency and integration in Chinese charitable organizations while assessing the moderating effects of external challenges through an integrated Technology-Organization-Environment and institutional theory lens. Research design, data, and methodology: Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), the authors analyzed survey data from 298 blockchain-exposed China Charity Federation (CCF) members. Results: Blockchain adoption significantly improves transparency and integration. External challenges asymmetrically moderate these relationships: regulatory pressures weaken transparency gains while technical standards strengthen integration A self-reinforcing cycle emerges between transparency and integration, driven by standardized protocols like blockchain-audited financial reports. Conclusions: Blockchain serves as both a technological solution and a governance paradigm for charitable supply chains. Drawing empirical insights from China's charitable ecosystem, this study proposes a framework with broader applicability to other models of charitable coordination. The research elucidates blockchain's potential to enable charitable organizations and their supply chains globally to reconcile ethical accountability with operational efficiency amid increasing digitization of humanitarian service delivery.